Context

This is a proposal from Google based on our experience consuming schema.org Product markup and working with similar data from online merchants. If it were accepted, it would allow site owners to add structured data that specifies potential audience restrictions for eCommerce products, for example based on law or commonly accepted norms in specific countries or cultures.

Proposal

Schema.org currently allows specifying a suggested gender or suggested (or required) age-range on the /PeopleAudience class. However, depending on the country or region, a specific product might or might not be legally allowed or might have different age restrictions (for example: marijuana is legal in some US states and not in others). We therefore propose to add a new /applicableRegion property with range /DefinedRegion to the /PeopleAudience class to specify the region(s) for which the specific PeopleAudience instance applies.

User (audience) restrictions might not always be age-related (for example, some products require special training before use), so we also propose to add a new property /audienceRestriction to the /PeopleAudience class that allows site owners to specify why a product could be audience-restricted, e.g., because it is dangerous and requires certain training, because it is considered harmful for children, because it is designed to inflict bodily harm, etc.

The range of the proposed /audienceRestriction property would be a new enumeration /AudienceRestrictionEnumeration with the following suggested enumeration values based on common reasons why a product could be audience-restricted:

• Alcohol - The product contains alcohol, for example wine, beer, or spirits.
• Violence - The product shows or promotes violence.
• Healthcare, for example prescription and OTC drugs, sexual enhancement treatments, restricted medical devices.
• Narcotic, as defined by the 1961 UN convention (subdivided in 4 classes or schedules, ranging from least to most restrictive). For example marijuna or heroin.
• Tobacco, for example cigars, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes, hookahs.
• AdultContent - The product contains adult content such as nudity, sexually suggestive or explicit material, or is intended to enhance sexual activity. Examples: Erotic videos, sex toys.
• Weapon - The product is intended to induce bodily harm, for example guns, mace, combat knives, brass knuckles, nail or other bombs, and spears.
• DangerousGood - The product is dangerous and requires careful handling and/or special training of the user. See also UN Model Regulations defining the 9 classes of dangerous goods.

Additionally we could add /Text to the range of /audienceRestriction to allow a free-form explanation of why a product is audience-restricted.

Possible extensions

To further classify narcotics we could consider introducing a new property /narcoticSchedule (with range Number and values 1-4 per the schedules defined by the UN).

To further classify dangerous goods we could introduce a new enumeration type /DangerousGoodTypeEnumeration and property /dangerousGoodType with possible values:

• DangerousGoodExplosives
• DangerousGoodGases
• DangerousGoodFlammableLiquids
• DangerousGoodFlammableSolid
• DangerousGoodOxidisingAgentOrOrganicPeroxide
• DangerousGoodToxinsAndInfectiousSubstances
• DangerousGoodRadioactiveMaterials
• DangerousGoodMiscellaneous

We could consider adding existing rating schemes for certain types of content, e.g, the EU and US rating schemes for movies.

Considerations

• Our goal is not to define a new rating scheme. The act of defining a rating scheme is full of pitfalls (well-documented in ICRA fail). Different countries and cultures have very different rating systems and interpretations for example of what is nudity and what is violence (example) and what ages are allowed to be exposed to such content. Therefore this proposal restricts itself to simply allowing merchants and manufacturers to tag their products with specific characteristics ("this is a weapon", "this is a recreational drug", "this is an adult product") which could be a potential reason the product is audience-restricted in certain countries. The actual interpretation (e.g., deciding whether or not to block the content) of the tag is left to the consuming system.
• We considered building on the existing /isFamilyFriendly property in Schema.org but decided against since this a culture or country-specific interpretation. Although it is obvious that most or all of the here defined restrictions would make a product not family-friendly.
• The proposal overlaps with the domain of product classification. Another option would be adding an enumeration under the existing /category property. However, the domain of audience-restriction is narrow and specific, so we think it deserves its own definition.
• Outside scope though somewhat related is defining other reasons why products should be restricted, e.g., because they have been recalled, because they contain certain chemicals, could be a choking hazard, etc.